The central bank’s term deposit facility (TDF) attracted only P324.328 billion as tenders on Wednesday, Nov. 8, lower than its offer of P400 billion.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila Jr. noted low demand in the TDF auctions despite raising the volume for both the 7-day and 14-day tenors.
The 7-day offering was increased to P230 billion from P190 billion last week, while the 14-day had P170 billion versus P120 billion previously.
Total bids of P324.328 billion was below the BSP’s expected volume range, said Dakila.
“Respective bid-to-cover ratios for the 7-day and 14-day tenors were at 0.867x and 0.735x, indicating low demand for term deposits as market participants adjusted their asset positions and tended to client requirements,” he said.
Of the total bids received, the BSP accepted P323.328 billion. Dakila said the BSP awarded the tendered amount of P199.395 billion for the 7-day tenor and accepted P123.933 billion for 14-day TDF.
Meanwhile, the weighted average interest rates (WAIR) for both tenors increased this week.
The WAIR for the 7-day TDF rose by four basis points (bps) to 6.6141 percent, while the longer-dated tenor was up by 3.3 bps to 6.6233 percent. “The range of yields accepted in the 7-day and 14-day tenors narrowed to 6.5325-6.7399 percent and 6.5500-6.7500 percent, respectively,” said Dakila.
The TDF was first introduced in 2016 and is part of the interest rate corridor system. It is one of BSP’s main liquidity mopping tool .